Electric meter.



No; 796,034. rATENTEp AUG. 1, 1905.

* ,T; DUNCAN.

ELECTRIC METER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 3,1901.

DOLLAR s. -CENTS.

lit- V211 1:15

THUMAEI LII] EATI- UNI ED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Au 1, 1905.

Application filed July 3, 1901., Serial No. 66,951.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS DUNCAN, a citizen of the United States,residing'at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Imrovement in Electric Meters, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to meters, and has for its object the provision ofan improved form of meter whereby the consumer can ascertain withoutcalculation and without special knowledge of the instrument the cost ofhis service.

In practicing my present invention I preferably employ a commutatedmotor-meter having current and pressure windings in combination withmeans for changing-the eflective number of turns of one of the windings,whereby the torque is adjusted to produce a speed of the meter inproportion to the cost of the current. I prefer to change the effectivenumber of turns of the series winding, for which purpose a switchingdevice having step-by-step contacts corresponding to different costs ofcurrent is employed, the various contacts constituting terminals ofdifferent parts ofthe winding, so that more or less of thecurrent-winding is included in circuit, according to the position of theswitch arm.

I will explain my invention more fully by reference to the accompanyingdrawing, which illustrates a meter constructed in accordance with myinvention.

I have shown an alternating-current generator a, supplying current totransmissionmains b b, that convey current to translating devices a c,which may be incandescent lamps, motors, or other instrumentalities. Ido not wish, however, to be limited to an alternati'ng-current system ofdistribution, as my invention is equally applicable to other sys-, temsof distribution. In the specific application of the inventionillustrated the measmutator f, which engages brushes 9 g, that areconnected with the mains b b and which include the armature in bridge ofthe transmission-mains, a resistance It being included andthe armature eproduce fields that are in proportion to the current and pressure, atorque resulting that causes a rotation of the shaft i in proportion tothe watts. A starting-coil k is provided for overcoming friction, &c.,while the shaft 11 is provided with a damping-disk Z, that cooperateswith the dampingmagnets m to retard the rotation of the shaft.

As indicated in the drawing, the. meter is adjusted for the highestprice of current, (in this instance twenty cents,) the entire field-Winding being included in the main circuit, whereby the greatest torqueis secured and the shaft of the meter caused to rotate at the highestrate of speed. As the cost is reduced less of the current-winding shouldbeincluded' in circuit to reduce the torque. Thus if the cost iseighteen cents the switch it is move from the button 20 cents to thebutton 18 cents, a section of the series winding being thus cut out ofcircuit.

I have not illustrated any of the counting mechanism in thisapplication, the shaft of the meter being, as is understood, coupledwith the counting-train to operate the index of units of cents upon theextreme right, the index of tens of cents next to the extreme right, theindex of units of dollars to the left of the tens of cents, the index oftens of dollars to the left of units of dollars, and the index ofhundreds of dollars to the left of tens of dollars.

While I have herein shown and particularly described the preferredembodiment of rent, step-by-step adjusting means for governing theeffective quantity of field-winding of themeter to produce a torque inpropor-' tion to the cost set for the current to produce a change inrotation of the rotating element of the meter in proportion to thecurrent cost and thereby efiect a corresponding operation of themeasuring mechanism, and a torque coil or winding is subject to thepressure, substantially as described.

2. The combinationwith a system of electrical distribution, of a meterhaving fieldwindings receiving current from the said system, measuringmechanism provided with means for determining the monetary equivalent ofthe consumed current, step-by-step adjusting means for adjusting theeffective quantity of a field-winding to adjust the torque of the meterto produce a rotation of the rotating element of the meter and an operation of the measuring mechanism in proportion to the cost of a givenquantity of current that may be set, and a torque coil or winding 7csubject to the pressure, substantially as described. Y

3. The combination with a system of electrical distribution, of a meterhaving field- Windings receiving current from the said system, measuringmechanism provided with means for determining the monetary equivalent ofthe consumed current, a step-by-step device to adjust the effectiveamount of one of the said windings, thereby to govern the torque andadjust the speed of the meter in accordance with the cost set for agiven amount of current, and a torque coil or winding is subject to thepressure, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a system of electrical distribution, of a meterhaving fieldwindings receiving current from the said system, measuringmechanism provided with means for determining the monetary equivalent ofthe consumed current, a step-by-step device to adjust the effectiveamount of the current-windings, thereby to govern the torque and adjustthe speed of the meter in accordance with the cost set for a givenamount of current, and a torque coil or wind ing 7c subject to thepressure, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a system of electrical distribution, of a meterhaving fieldwindings receiving current from the said system, measuringmechanism provided with means for determining the monetary equivalent ofthe consumed current, a step -by step device to adjust the effectiveamount of one of the said windings, thereby to govern the torque andadjust the speed of the meter in accordance with the cost set for agiven amount of current, a commutator for the armature of the saidmeter, and a torque coil or winding 76 subject to the pressure,substantially as described.

6. The combination with a system of electrical distribution, of a meterhaving fieldindings receiving current from the said system, measuringmechanism provided with means for determining the monetary equivalent ofthe consumed current, a step-bystep device to adjust the effectiveamount of the currentwindings, thereby to govern the torque and adjustthe speed of the meter in accordance with the cost set for a givenamount of current, a commutator for the armature of the said meter, anda torque coil or winding 7r subject to the pressure, substantially asdescribed.

7. The combination with a system of electrical distribution, of a metersupplied with current therefrom, measuring mechanism for determining thequantity of the consumed current, step-by-step adjusting means forgoverning the eflective quantity of" fieldwinding of the meter toproduce a torque in proportion to the cost set for the current toproduce a change in rotation of the rotating element of the meter inproportion to the cost, and thereby efl'ect a corresponding operation ofthe measuring mechanism, and a torque coil or winding 7c subject to thepressure, substantially as described.

8. The combination with a system of electrical distribution, of a meterhaving fieldwindings receiving current from the said system, measuringmechanism provided with means for determining the quantity of theconsumed current, step-by-step adjusting means for adjusting theell'ective quantity of field-winding to adjust the torque of the meterto produce a rotation of the rotating element of the meter and anoperation of the measuring mechanism in proportion to the cost of agiven quantity of current that may be set, and a torque coil or winding71: subject to the pressure, substantially as described.

9. The combination with a system oi electrical distribution, of a meterhaving lieldwindings receiving current from the said system, measuringmechanism for determining the equivalent of the consumed current, astep-by-step device to adjust the efl'ective amount of one of saidwindings, thereby to govern the torque and adjust the speed of the meterin accordance with the cost set for a given amount of current, and atorque coil or winding 7c subject to the pressure, substantially asdescribed.

10. The combination with a system of electrical distribution, of a meterhaving fieldwindings receiving current from the said system, measuringmechanism provided with means for determining the quantity of theconsumed current, a stepby-step device to adjust the efl'ective amountof the current windings, thereby to govern the torque and adjust thespeed of the meter in accordance with the cost set for a given amount ofcurrent, and a torque coil or winding Z: subject to the pressure,substantially as described.

11. The combination witha system of electrical distribution, of a meterhaving fieldwindings receiving current from the said system, measuringmechanism provided with means for determining. the quantity of theconsumed current, a step-by-step device to adjust the efiective amountof one of the said windings, thereby to govern the torque and adjust thespeed of the meter in accordance with the cost set for a given amount ofcurrent, a commutator for the armature of said meter, and a torque coilor winding 76 subject to the pressure, substantially as described.

12. The combination witha system of electrical distribution, of a meterhaving fieldwindings receiving current from the-said system, measuringmechanism provided with means for determining the amount of the consumedcurrent, a step-by-step device to adjust the effective amount of thecurrentwindings, thereby to govern the torque and adjust the speed ofthe meter in accordance with the cost set for a given amount of current,a commutator for the armature of said' meter, and a torque coil orwinding 7c subject to the pressure, substantially as described.

13. The combinationwith a-system of electrical distribution, of a meterhaving fieldwindings receiving current from the said system and settingup corresponding magnetic fields, measuring mechanism provided withmeans for determining the quantity of the consumed current, astep-by-step device to adjust the strength of one of said magneticfields, thereby to govern the torque and adjust the speed of the meterin accordance with the cost set for a given amount of current, and atorque coil or winding 7c subject to the pressure, substantially asdescribed.

14. The combination with a source of electrical energy, of mainssupplied thereby and conveying current to translating-mains, a wattmeterhaving current and pressure windings supplied with current by the systemstep-by-step adjusting mechanism for determining the effective quantityof the current-windings, and a torque coil or winding 70 subject to thepressure, substantially as described.

15. The combination with a generator of electrical energy, of mains forsupplying the said energy to translating-mains, a wattmeter havingcurrent and pressure windings, the current-windings being included inseries in the working circuit, said windings being subdivided intocoils, terminal contacts for the coils and the switching-arm connectedin the working circuit adapted to engage one 'or the other of the'saidterminals to govern the amount of effective windings in the circuit, anda torque coil or winding is subject to the pressure, substantially asdescribed.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 23d day of May, A.D. 1901.

THOMAS DUN CAN.

Witnesses:

GEORGE L. ORAGG, HERBERT F. OBERGFELL.

